Godfrey Diekmann, OSB Lecture, 2013

All Together Now? Catholic Unity and the Liturgy

Keynote Speaker: Rita Ferrone

In what does the unity of the Roman Rite consist? Fifty years after the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, some assert that this unity is textual, and therefore they regard exact correspondence of vernacular texts with a Latin original as essential to believed, textual unity was not what the fathers of the council chiefly had in mind when they made the landmark decision to opt for the expression "substantial unity." We will examine the shift that has taken place between the Second Vatican Council and today in interpreting the Constitution on this point, and argue that the lasting unity of the Roman Rite is best founded on the concept of paschal mystery, the hidden theological treasure of the liturgical reform.

Rita Ferrone is an author and speaker who has worked on the national level to promote a greater awareness and better understanding of liturgical practice and, in particular, liturgical reform movements.

Her 2007 book, Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium, evaluated the Second Vatican Council's constitution on liturgy and placed it in a greater context of liturgical reform and response. It examined how the document has been carried out in practical terms including the questions of ongoing renewal and "reform of the reform" movements.

Rita earned a Master of Divinity from Yale University and has worked in the field of liturgy in parish, diocesan, and national settings. She currently lives in Mount Vernon, New York.